Brezje (Radovljica)
Brezje (also Brezje na Gorenjskem , German: Pirkendorf in der Oberkrain ) is a village in the Slovenian municipality Radovljica in the Gorenjska region . It is located northwest of the town of Kranj , 485 meters above sea level, and has 493 inhabitants (as of 2002).
Brezje was first mentioned in the 11th century and is now considered the most important place of pilgrimage in Slovenia. The current pilgrimage church , the Basilica of St. Vitus ( Bazilika Sv. Vida ), was consecrated in 1900, but dates back to older churches in the same place. In the vernacular, the basilica is also called Maria Hilf ( Marija Pomagaj ) because of the image of the Virgin Mary located there and supposedly working miracles . The picture created by the Slovenian painter Leopold Layer (1752–1828) in 1814 is based on the miraculous image of Mariahilf by Lucas Cranach the Elder , which is located in Innsbruck Cathedral . Pope John Paul II made the pilgrimage church a minor basilica in 1988 and visited it in 1996. The square in front of the church was designed by the famous Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik .
Web links
- Brezje website (Slovenian)
- Website of the pilgrimage church (Slovenian)
- Rudolf Grulich: The Slovenian Lourdes . Website kirche-in-not.de.
Coordinates: 46 ° 19 ′ 43.7 ″ N , 14 ° 13 ′ 56 ″ E